286 
A DESCRIPTION OF 
the desert. There is a remarkably fine Ostrich at the 
Surrey Zoological Gardens. 
THE CASSOWARY (Casuarius galeatus,) 
Is next in size to the ostrich, but of a different nature. 
His wings are hardly perceptible, being very short, and 
entirely concealed under the plumage. The general tint 
of his feathers is brown, with some spots of vermilion 
red ; his head is small and depressed, with a horny crown; 
the head and neck are deprived of feathers, and only set 
with a kind of hairy down. From the bill to the claws 
the body measures about five feet and a half; about the 
neck are two protuberances of a bluish colour, and in 
shape like the wattles of a cock. Unlike other birds, the 
feathers of the wings, and other parts of the body, are 
exactly the same ; so that at a distance he looks rather 
as if he were entirely covered with hairs like a bear, than 
with plumage like a bird. The Cassowary eats indiscri- 
